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                        Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
      fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
                    written by a professional astronomer.

                              2025 December 24
   A panel of six images shows a red dot in the center of each image. The
   instrument that took the image is listed on each image, along with a z
    number that is the cosmological redshift. Please see the explanation
                       for more detailed information.

               Mystery: Little Red Dots in the Early Universe
       Image Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, JWST; Dale Kocevski (Colby
                                  College)

   Explanation: What are these little red dots (LRDs)? Nobody knows.
   Discovered only last year, hundreds of LRDs have now been found by the
   James Webb Space Telescope in the early universe. Although extremely
   faint, LRDs are now frequently identified in deep observations made for
   other purposes. A wide-ranging debate is raging about what LRDs may be
   and what importance they may have. Possible origin hypotheses include
   accreting supermassive black holes inside clouds of gas and dust,
   bursts of star formation in young dust-reddened galaxies, and dark
   matter powered gas clouds. The highlighted images show six nearly
   featureless LRDs listed under the JWST program that found them, and z,
   a distance indicator called cosmological redshift. Additionally,
   searches are underway in our nearby universe to try to find whatever
   previous LRDs might have become today.

          Tomorrow's picture: Fox Fur, Unicorn, and Christmas Tree
     __________________________________________________________________

       Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
            NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
                  NASA Web Privacy, Accessibility, Notices;
                      A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
                           NASA Science Activation
                             & Michigan Tech. U.

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